JANUARY 23 • 2020 | 5

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for starters
Jewish Food
F

ood is integral to Jewish 
culture; everything 
revolves around eating. 
All our major holidays are 
food-centric. I mean, what’
s 
Chanukah without latkes? 
Purim without hamentashen? 
Passover without gefilte fish? 
Rosh Hashanah 
without almond 
boneless chicken 
and Gai Kow? I 
have met more 
Jews at Chinese 
restaurants on 
the Breaking 
of the Fast than at Kol Nidre 
(Counting the number of 
Chinese at Jewish delis over 
the last 60 years … I’
m guess-
ing maybe three or four, and 
they looked confused.) 
I think we have the best 
food of any culture. I didn’
t 
say healthiest. It’
s loaded with 
fat and salt, but nothing tastes 
better! And, I have nine stents 
and three bypasses to prove it. 
Little did I know that when 
my dad gave me my first piece 
of salami at age 10 and said, 
“Here, boychek, live a little,
” 
he meant it literally. But it’
s 
worth it because, like Johnny 
Carson said, he once knew a 
man who gave up smoking, 
drinking. and fatty food … He 

was healthy right up to the day 
he shot himself.
But, my biggest peeve is the 
cost. Our food is so expensive 
it’
s probably the main reason 
we have so few converts. A 
Methodist could never afford 
these prices! I remember 
bagels, a dozen on a string at 
Maxy’
s Grocery, 4 cents each. 
Now it’
s a buck. Halavah was 
10 cents, now it’
s almost $2. 
I’
m old enough to remember 
when a schtikel (a little piece)
was a nickel. Now a schtikel is 
a dollar. What a shame, and it 
doesn’
t even rhyme. 

Sunday brunch used to 
consist of hot bagels, salami, 
hand-cut lox, smoked fish, 
schmaltz herring and sable 
and cost about $10. Today you 
have to dip into your IRA to 
pay the bill. 
I love sable; it used to be a 
staple at Sunday brunch. Now 
it’
s $44 a pound, hermetically 
sealed under glass, like a muse-
um piece. Believe me, if I were 
gonna rob a deli, I’
d leave the 
cash and take the sable!
The only time you see sable 
these days is on a shivah tray. 
It’
s the ultimate shandah. 
You’
re dead and everyone is 
eating the sable you couldn’
t 
afford in life. It’
s to the point 
now that when you have to 
make a shivah call, you’
re 
caught between two emotions 
— sadness and salivation. 

Dr. Fredric Gold is a retired phy-
sician, residing in Bloomfield Hills, 
who tries to see the humorous side 
of life.

Fredric Gold

Commentary was 
Not Accurate

In this contentious politi-
cal climate, many on both 
sides are apt to overstate 
their positions. Readers 
look to responsible media 
for truth and accuracy. The 
Jewish News failed to meet 
my expectation by print-
ing a recent commentary 
by David Schraub (“Why 
are Jewish Groups Ignoring 
Anti-Semitism from the 
Mainstream Right,” page 6, 
Jan. 2).
Schraub claims President 
Trump is an anti-Semite 
based on statements in 
his address to the Israeli 
American Council. But I 
found Schraub carefully 
cherry-picked words from 
the speech to make them 
sound sinister.
Take an example. The 
president did not “(suggest) 
Jews aren’
t ‘
nice people.’
“ The 
transcript shows those words 
were in the context of a mild 
joke referring to tough nego-
tiations he’
s had with Jews 
in the real estate business. 
(Would Schraub prefer he 
call them “really nice” push-
overs?) Perhaps Schraub is 
just humor-deficient and 
did not get it; however, his 
other “examples” of President 
Trump’
s “anti-Semitism” are 
equally absurd.
We are facing the dismal 
prospect of 10 long months 
of political debate before the 
election. I know you are able 
to provide fair and accurate 
coverage. I hope you will.

— Kerry Greenhut

West Bloomfield

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